Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-07-07
A MAN FROM DODGE.
WHAT HE REMEMBERS OF THE
WAYS OF "BILLY THE KID"

The Quickest Man with weapon in the
Whole Southwest Was the Innocent
Looking Dare Devil the Kid-He Never
Missed.
There was a look of great disgust on the
face of the man from Dodge the other day
when the reporter saw him, and he appeared
to be detected as well 81 hev ben figurin' on
goin' back to Dodge" said he, @but that
scheme is busted; see by the telegraph items
in the newspapers that the sloons is all closed
down there, and what is life wuth ivin' fur
whur the sloons is all shet up2 But that
wasn't what was goin' to talk about Twas
readin' bout fellers that was handy with the
gun an how fast they could fan tho hammer.
There was something about Pat CARROTS
killin' Billy the Kid. Now it happened that
was down that way when the Kid was killed
an know somethin' about it, an know, too,
that Pat didn't give him square show fer
his life. But then he'd a been fool if he
had, cause Billy could outshoot any man in
New Mexico. The Kid was, an no mistake,
a holy terror. He was one of those strange
things you come across oncet in a lifetime,
an while he was as smooth an pleasant a lit
tie feller as yer could wish to 'sociate with,
he filed feller with sort O. awe-I think
that's the word He was like q snake a
shinin' in the sun, so slick an SO han'some, an
yet his touch meant death. He was slim an
light haired, an blue eyed, an his face was
sort O. pale; his upper teeth stuck out a little
bit, an that made him look more innocent
than ever You somehow amt afeared of
fellow whose teeth sticks out in front. He
didn't weigh very much more than 130
pounds, an he was pleasant companion; his
eyes was rather pleasant until he got mad,
an then they shot fire.
Il seen Billy kill two men, an he did the
job up clean. They never kicked, an they
had their lights put out in great shape. They
was cowboys, an they swore they'd kill the
Kid cause they'd heard so much ahJat him.
That time ut least the Kid wasn't 10 blame.
He hadn't killed no relatives of their'n. 1t
wasn't very fur FIN Socorro, which wasn't
much more'n a village then, an we was in
camp when the Kid an another fellow come
up Now we wasn't overglad TO see Billy
cause he had bard name; they said he'd kill
a man if he didn't happen to be stuck on the
color O his hair an sich like. But we wasn't
goin' to let on. That little devil was so sweet
ON US that you'd thought butter would
been safe in his mouth, an that made us
more uneasy than ever, though there was ten
o. US an only two O 'em, the Kid an the fel-
Ter with him. Well, as was sayin', we was
eatin' dinner, or supper, fer it was after sun
down. when two fellers rode up. The Kid
had seen em, but he never let on an kept on
eatin' as material as if there wasn't nobody in
q hundred miles that was goin' to hurt him.
THEY LET LOOSE.
"When the strangers got near esough to see
the faces o. the fellers eatin', one O. 'em said,
There he is an without more sayin' they let
loose. 1 never saw anybody skin around 50
lively as the Kid did; he skipped six or eight
feet an thought sure he was hit cause I've
seen fellers do the same way when they had
bullet straight through the heart; but Billy
he wasn't teched The fellers on horseback
let loose twicet an then Billy he up with his
gun-he had one o. the purtiest Winchesters
you ever laid your eyes on-an' fired twicet.
1t was bullet for each man an he brought
'em both, each one through the heart. Billy's
pardner didn't seem ticularly nervous; he
sat eatin' his supper all the time, an seemed
to think that the Kid could take care O him.
self When Billy had killed the fellers he sat
down agin an finished his supper an then
rode away. AS he an his pal was goin' Billy
says to us: I'm in a hurry, or I'd help you
bury those ducks We never found out who
they was, an we buried them then an there,
AM then went on some distance an camped
fer the night. We wasn't goin' to sleep so
near two dead men.
"Billy was a mighty queer lad; never
thought o. nothin' 'cept killin'. The only
thing to do was to kill him. 1t wasn't no use
to put him in Jail, for bed break out an the
fellers that put him there would have to
hustle around lively after that to keep out
the way o. bein' killed themselves. The thor
tiles captured him more'n once, but he allus
managed to get away, an each time he killed
somebody. Once he killed two deputy sher-
ifs who had him in charge by takin' the gun
of one of 'em away, an when the Kid got his
fingers anywhere near a gun there was bound
to be a dead man not fur away. There
wasn't no man in New Mexico who could
shoot agin him with either pistol or Win
chester, an he never missed. Talk about
fannin' the hammerl Well, he could jest
make pistol talk, an when he was around
all the boys sung small, l tell ye l wasn't
sorry to hear that he was killed; fact is,
thought Billy had sort o. grievance agin
me, an was lookin' out sharp that he didn't
plug a hole in my carcass. Billy was thief
an outlaw, but he was a sandy lad an Q
terror FIN wayback. 1 don't believe the man
liv ed in New Mexico what wouldn't say that
he felt queer about his breastbone when Billy
was in town an filled up more or less with
border cologne. Chicago Tribune.